Life is Beautiful
by Breeze.x
Summary: After a tragic accident that lands a free-spirited Bella Swan into the local foster care system, what will happen when the Cullens decide to adopt her and life as they knew it begins to change? AU. AH.
1. When You Were Young

**_Life is Beautiful_**

**Author: **Breeze.x  
**Genre:** Angst/Romance/Hurt&Comfort  
******Category:** AU-AH  
**Rating:** T / PG-13  
******Shippings:** EdxB, JxA, EmxR, CxEs  
******Summary:** After a tragic accident that lands a free-spirited Bella Swan into the local foster care system, what will happen when the Cullens decide to adopt her and life as they knew it begins to change and not always for good. AU. AH.  
**Disclaimer: **All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.  
**Extra:** Best Viewed in 1/2 Screen. Author Note at Bottom.

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**Chapter O1:  
When You Were Young  
BPOV **

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"Come on, Bella. You're going to be late!" My mom yelled through the closed door, her hand banging against it once more.

I groaned, rolling my body over so that my back was to the source of the loud noise. I slowly opened one eye, caught a glimpse of my flashing alarm clock and quickly shut it before slamming my head back onto my pillow. It was too early for any normal human being to be up and moving around on a Saturday morning. Saturdays were designed for sleep and relaxation, something impossible to do at six thirty.

I nestled down into my mattress, enjoying the quiet atmosphere in my room once my mother had given up on trying to wake me. I brought the covers up to my shoulder and attempted to go back to sleep even though I wasn't really that tired anymore. After all, I knew my mom well enough to know that she'd be back, and I was right.

I heard her before I saw her.

The door flew opened, to reveal my mom standing in the doorway, a clear spray bottle raised in front of her. My eyes popped open on their own when I heard the clear sound of water being sprayed into the air. I yanked down my sheets, jumped out of bed, and ran down the hall, grabbing the clothes I had stacked on my desk on my way out.

---

"Do we really have to go through this every single Saturday, Mom?" I asked once I was fully dressed and seated at the kitchen table, picking on my poptarts.

She turned and flashed me a full cheek-to-cheek grin from her place on the couch in front of the television with Tommy nestled into her side.

Mamma's boy.

I rolled my eyes and shoved the remaining bit of my breakfast into my mouth, barely having enough room to pour the milk in to wash it down. I ignored my mom's horrified expression and got up from the table to throw everything away. My eyes clenched shut on their own when a small ache began to form in my head. After popping a couple of Advil into my mouth, I looked out of the window over the sink.

The sun's rays illuminated the top of the black pick-up truck as it crunched its way down our gravel driveway. Through the tinted windows I could barely make out the faces of the people inside of it, but I knew exactly who would greet me when I opened the door.

I swooped up my bag and ran out the door; my half-yelled goodbye drowned out by the other early Saturday morning noises I was accustomed to. My old clay covered riding boots left imprints in the rocks as I ran to the truck, flung the door opened, and all but jumped into it; it was our routine.

"Man, I wish I could look like that running in skin-tight pants." Andrea said once I was fully seated in the spot behind her. I rolled my eyes, ignoring her under-the-surface teasing.

Andrea had been my friend since before we were even born, maybe even conceived if you wanted to be really technical about it. Our parents had gone to college together, gotten married within months of each other, and had us only days apart. It was practically mandatory that we were friends, not as if it had mattered though. We were like two peas in a pod.

"Says the girl who wears spandex shorts and knee-high socks for volleyball." I retorted, my lack of sleep preventing me from really wanting to take part in our usual banter. It always went the same way, anyways. She would make some comment about how I looked, obviously thinking of herself when she said it, I would compliment her, and it would usually end in us bickering back and forth on who was right until someone else said something to break us up.

"Guy in the car! Geez, guys, seriously?" I hadn't even noticed that Nick was sitting in the passenger seat until he raised his hand in the air. "You two in tight pants and spandex shorts are officially off limits. You can have your stupid girl talk later." he added before turning on the crackly radio.

"You talk about guy stuff all the time, though!" Andrea protested, taking her hand off of the steering wheel to turn the music off. I bit down on my lip to hide the smirk that was forming from knowing that she only did that to aggravate him.

"With who?" He asked his sarcasm only slightly masked by his frustration.

"Bella! She's as much of a guy as anyone." she said, throwing her arm over her shoulders to point at me.

"I am not." I mumbled too softly for anyone but myself to hear. I could feel my face heating up as I sunk down in my seat, hoping to make myself as invisible as possible. It wasn't an unknown fact that I wasn't the most girlie girl out there, but I wasn't a complete tomboy either.

I looked over at Rachel wondering why she was keeping quiet. She wasn't the most talkative person, but around us she usually talked more than this. She was facing the window though, her long blonde hair catching the sunlight.

"Hey," I said softly. It was loud enough to get her attention though. "You ok?"

She nodded and offered a small smile. "Yeah, I'm just tired." She yawned, giving unneeded proof to her words. I probably should've asked for more details, knowing well enough that something was bothering her, but with Rachel you couldn't force things out of her. She would talk when she wanted to, and that was it.

"Are you even listening?" Nick asked, turning around in his seat to look at me with his large brown eyes.

"Huh?" I hadn't even realized they were talking to me.

He groaned and threw his head back against the seat. "This is why I need caffeine in the mornings, so I can tolerate things like this." He complained before muttering something along the lines of 'So I can tolerate _girls_'. "She wasn't even listening to us!" He whined, louder now.

Andrea reached over with one hand and patted his shoulder gently. It didn't surprise me that their argument was already finished, they never did last for long. "It's ok my little Grumpy. We'll get some after Bella's lesson."

"After? But I'll be dead by then!"

"Oh shut it! You can get it while I'm riding, if it makes you happy" I said, taking the elastic off of my wrist to pull my hair up.

He smiled back at me. "You're my new favorite person."

Andrea made a show of rolling her eyes and making a face in the mirror, I had to bite on my lip to prevent myself from laughing. Rachel on the other hand was not even attempting to stop the boisterous laughter from coming out of her mouth.

"What's funny?" Nick asked, looking back and forth from the three of us, completely oblivious to Andrea's mocking.

"Nothing." I managed to say, only allowing a giggle or two out. "Nothing at all."

---

No one said anything as the truck turned off the main road and onto a smaller dirt road. It was easy to miss, and I could not even count how many times we had passed it up on one hand.

"Oh thank you. We're here." Andrea sighed, rolling down the window and pressing the numbers into the security box that would open the gates. With the window rolled down I could already smell the country. The newly cut grass, the morning air, the horses, everything about it drew me in.

"How can you even stand that?" Andrea asked, scrunching up her nose after getting a full whiff.

"Hey, it smells good." I retorted defensively.

"Whatever." she mumbled, driving forward for a few minutes before coming to a halt on the side of the driveway. From where I was seated, I could easily make out the side of the barn and part of the training arena. The rest of the buildings and pastures were being blocked by Andrea's bushy brown curls.

I quickly unbuckled my seatbelt, eager to be with Pepper. I grabbed my bag and opened the truck door; stumbling slightly when I missed the running board and landed on my feet.

"All good!" I panted to the chuckling people in the car before shutting the door.

I slung the bag onto my shoulder, took a step forward, and leaned against Andrea's door. Resting my arms on her window frame, I leaned forward and sighed.

"No one wants to watch me ride?" I asked with a pout, putting a hand over my heart and feigning hurt.

"Nah. Sorry, we have more important things to do." Andrea said before noticing the expression on my face. "Geez. I'm kidding! Can't you take a joke?" she added quickly. I was sure I heard her mumble something about ridiculous.

I glared at her. "We're just going to get some coffee in Grumpy over there,"—she pointed to Nick over her shoulder—"and then we'll be back." she snickered, ignoring my failed attempts at looking menacing.

"Bring me back one?" I asked, giving up entirely on the anger approach. I wanted my latte, and that was that.

"Sure, Sure. See you in…thirty minutes-ish?" She looked down at her watch and tilted her head to the side slightly, something she always did when she was thinking.

I nodded, agreeing.

"Bye, Nick and Rachel." I said waving to the passengers in the car. I took a step away and started to walk to the barn, a smile stitched onto my face.

"Hey!" Andrea protested. "What about me?"

I turned my body halfway around. "What about you?" I asked making my face look as innocent as possible.

"Don't I get a goodbye?" she said, her face falling into a pout. Her bottom lip quivered slightly, and I had to give in.

"Bye, Andrea." I teased, my mockery seeping out despite my pity for her. Her pout turned into a full cheek-to-cheek smile.

"Toodles!" she yelled back at me before pressing down on the gas and driving back down the rock road. I watched the black truck fade into the distance until my instructor shouted my name, forcing me to turn around and walk to the barn.

---

"Check you're diagonal. I don't care if you're warming up or performing; you need to be on the right diagonal at all times." Leah's strong voice rang through the arena as I looked down at the movement of Pepper's legs while trotting.

Wrong.

I flopped down in the saddle twice before picking up the posting trot I needed to be at to finish my lesson. For some reason unbeknown to be, Leah insisted on trotting to cool down at the end of every lesson. I always thought that walking would do the job much better, but she disagreed.

"Good. Now finish your lap around, go into the walk, and then dismount. You're done for the day, girl." Leah teased, gathering the thick black hair at the nape of her neck into her hands and holding it on top of her head. "Man is it hot." She complained.

I fought the urge to roll my eyes. Noticing that I had just passed the fence that marked both the beginning and end of each lap I flopped down into a walk. "It's summer. What do you expect?" I asked, turning my head to look at her.

She glared, dropping her hair before making her way to unlock the gate. "Fine, I won't wash Pepper off for you." She stated.

I backtracked. "I was only kidding."

"Sure, and I'm still going to be a size four in three months when I'm five months pregnant."

I grinned, approaching the fence and pulling back on the reins with a 'whoa'. I gathered them in one hand, loosened my feet from the stir-ups and swung my right leg over before sliding off. I gave Pepper's shoulder a pat.

"You're going to love it when Leah gives you a nice long bath." I cooed to her, attempting to straighten her mane out. I bit my lip to prevent a smile when I heard Leah's snort and focused on the hair.

"Fine, but you owe me." Leah said after a moment of silence, taking the reins from my hands. "And for the record, I'm only doing this because you're friends are waiting, and when they get bored, they end up breaking something."

"You know you love them." I defended, making my way closer to the fence until my back almost touched it.

"Actually, I don't. You do, not me." She said seriously.

I laughed, turning around to unlock the gate and slip out of it. Still laughing I started jogging towards the truck, only stumbling slightly. "See you next week!" I shouted back before slamming the truck door shout.

"Finally." Nick mumbled.

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**You asked for first person, check. You asked for me to just delete the previous chapters and repost it here, check. It was a mix between chapter lengths, so I'm just starting it off in the middle zone (about 2,500 words per chapter) and hopefully within a few chapters I'll be able to write longer more enjoyable chapters. I'm hoping -fingers crossed- that I can improve the writing of it, because to be honest I have this whole story played out in my head for months, I just need to be able to, you know, actually write it down. I know it seems very cliche' right now, just hang on, I promise there aren't a million of these out there. Trust me, I read fanfiction like crazy on this site and I don't think I've come across one with the same plot like this.**

**Thanks to anyone and everyone who stuck with it and is still reading and even those who just started reading. I really appreciate all of your nice words and just knowing that someone somewhere might be enjoying it. **

**I still have a while left of Christmas break so I'll hopefully be able to catch up and write a few chapters so that you won't be waiting months for a chapter. I'm trying for weekly or even more than that right now. **

**Let me know what you thought: whether you liked it or not, what you think will happen, how your holidays were, anything at all.**

**Merry Christmas,**

**Breeze  
**


	2. We Barely Make It

**Chapter O2:**

**We Barely Make It**

**BPOV**

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"This is why we don't let you driii-Holy shit Bella! Try not to kill us, why don't you!" Andrea screeched, holding onto the handle above the window as I whipped the truck into the Blockbuster parking lot, cutting across two lines of traffic and flooring it. I hadn't gotten in a wreck so far in my year of driving and I barely drove as it was, so I really couldn't see why she was making so much of a fuss over it.

The wheels screeched when I pressed down on the brakes in the parking spot directly in front of the door. I smiled cheerfully, happy that we had made it to the store in record timing. I quickly unbuckled my seatbelt and jumped out of the truck, landing on the ground with a thud. I was so past being embarrassed about still wearing my horseback riding clothes that I simply skipped –almost- to the glass doors; one hand on the handle, my body facing the truck.

"Come on, already! If ya'll don't hurry up I'm picking the movie myself!" I shouted back, excitement filling my body. I don't know whether it was the idea of another crazy movie night or finally being able to see the latest Johnny Depp movie, that my mother would have a fit over me seeing, was making me nearly hyperactive. I didn't know and honestly, I didn't even care.

After waiting a second, seeing their bodies slowly crawl out of the truck, their arms stretched out to the side, holding onto the truck for support, I let out a huff, placing both hands on my hips. Patience had never been my forte, add in more excitement and energy than I knew what to do with, and this was what you get.

I swung the door open, leaving them to stumble into the building behind me. My eyes scrunched up slightly as I examined the large open room, scanning the signs above the aisles for the section I was looking for.

_Action._

The moment I saw it, my feet were already carrying me towards it, picking up speed as I spotted someone else already in the aisle. There was no way I was letting some stranger steal my movie that technically I wasn't even legally able to rent without a parent, but hey, that's what older friends are for, right?

I looked at the title of the first movie in the row, following the titles down the alphabet.

"H…I…J…K…L….M…N…O…P! Yes! Finally!" I exclaimed, yanking the DVD from the shelf and holding it to my chest.

Once the movie was finally in my hands and I knew I'd be watching it within hours, I was finally able to take a deep breath and calm down. I know must've looked like a complete nutcase standing in the middle of the aisle, clutching the movie case to my chest, dressed it tight pants, high boots, a white polo and to top it all off, I was panting, sweaty, and most likely smelled like horse shit.

Some attractive chick I was.

I probably would have stayed there all day if Nick hadn't called me from across the store. "Hey Bella, come check this out!"

I looked at the older man standing a few feet away from me; sure that he was giving me some strange look. No, old gramps was still staring at the movies in front of him. I shrugged, not really caring anymore and stood on my toes, trying to figure out where they were. Luckily, I could spot Andrea's poufy hair from a mile away.

I weaved through the aisles slowly, no longer in a rush to do anything. "What?" I asked the moment I turned the corner.

I could tell something was up before they even answered me. Nick was grinning from ear to ear, pride radiating off of him, Rachel was leaning against the shelves, shaking her head a soft smile on her lips, and Andrea appeared to be having a full out laughing fit.

I rubbed under my nose, sniffling slightly. "Okay, I know for a fact something's up. What is it and why was I left out?"

Nick threw his head back, laughter pouring out of his mouth. He pointed to a DVD on the shelf, his hand shaking with the rapid rise and fall of his chest. I rolled my eyes; sure it was going to be some stupid porno or something he just had to show me.

When I saw the movie he was pointing to, confusion swept over me. "So what, it's just that Hannah Montana movie, or whatever." I picked the movie up, turning it over to see if something was on the back. Nothing. "What's the big –oh. Oh gosh…that's frickin' hilarious." I choked out, their laughter becoming contagious when I connected the dots.

"Did you put here?" I managed to ask after the most of my laughter had faded.

Andrea shook her head, grinning. "I wanted to get Signs or something pee-your-pants scary, and it was just sitting there. Rightly so, I might add." She took the Miley Cyrus movie from my hands and placed it directly in front one of the other horror movies.

"Whoever thought of that was pure genius." Nick chimed in, snatching Public Enemies from me and placing it under his arm.

He chuckled once more, "I'm gonna go check out, because I am hungry and I want food. You three can just wait in the car if you want."

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Three light taps on Andrea's front door informed us that the pizza was here. My index finger flew to my nose before the deliverer could knock a fourth time, as did three other people's fingers.

"I was first!" I exclaimed, settling back into the sofa, gleeful that I wouldn't be getting up any time soon.

"Andrea." Rachel and Nick said simultaneously their voices serious as they scooted closer to the backsides of the chairs they were sitting in.

Andrea groaned. "Why is it always me?" she grumbled under her breath so softly that if I had not been sitting right beside her I wouldn't have even been able to hear it. She slowly rose and shuffled her way to the front door, grabbing the wad of cash off the end table on her way.

"She always loses doesn't she?" Nick asked, propping his feet up on the footrest.

I nodded, "She really does."

"You'd think she'd have better reflexes by now, wouldn't you?" Rachel added, adjusting the pillow she was leaning on.

We nodded, ending the conversation as Andrea walked back into her living room, two pizza boxes balanced in one hand, a smaller rectangle box dangling in the other. She slid the boxes onto the coffee table in front of the couch and sat back down on the cushion next to me. "One large ham and pineapple, one large three meat, one box of cheese sticks." She announced flipping a box open and snatching a piece topped completely with meat.

"Mmmm." She moaned before taking another bite, looking more like a rabid beast than a semi-normal seventeen year old.

I quickly looked over at Nick who was staring directly at me. My gaze flickered over to the box of cheese sticks and back at him. My hand darted out before I could even process what I was doing, my arm reached out, grabbing the box as quickly as humanly possible and holding it to my chest as I caught my breath.

Nick groaned. "Come on, you can't eat them all, again." His lip jutted out into a pout. He held out one hand, clearly expecting me to offer one up to him.

I rolled my eyes, sticking my tongue out at him, before opening the box on my lap, breaking apart half of the bread before handing the rest and the box to Nick.

"Hey, what about the rest of us?" Andrea complained, taking another bite of her pizza.

"Tough luck." Nick said, ripping a piece off his half and stuffing it in his mouth. "Man is it good though."

Andrea glared at him, yanking the crust off her piece and taking a large bite of it while Rachel and I watched the exchange, laughing.

"You could just ask us for some, you do know that right?" I asked as I peeled the cheese off one strip of my half and dropping it into my mouth.

She perked up and turned her attention to me. "Really?"

I took a bite of the cheese-less piece and nodded.

"Oh. Well than can I have a piece?" she asked, hopeful.

I shook my head. "Not good enough." I took another bite, moaned, than took another to keep the smirk off my face at her expression.

"Fine then. Oh gracious beautiful bit- uh, person, may I have a piece of your lovely cheese bread?" she asked, her teeth gritted.

I shrugged and ripped off a strip. "Could use some work, but here."

Andrea took a large bite of it before turning back to me. "Thanks" she said, giving me a good view of the half-chewed bread in her mouth.

I shut my eyes tightly. "And you think I'm the guy?" I asked, incredulously, bringing my own piece up to my mouth to take a bite.

Before she could answer, Rachel chimed in. "Hey, where are we staying tonight?"

I swallowed and opened my eyes to look at my friends. "We stayed at my place last time, and Tommy has Danny over…" I trailed off as they nodded needed no further explanation.

"Nick's room smells." Andrea blurted.

Nick glared. "I'm a guy. They're man odors. It's supposed to smell like that." He defended, much to our amusement.

"My parents are in Los Angeles, we could all go to my place if you want." Rachel offered, ignoring Nick's comment.

I shrugged, willing to go along with anything just as long as it got me out of my house for the night. "I need to get clothes and all at my house though."

"Same here." Nick said, leaning over to take yet another piece of pizza.

After a moment of silence, Andrea spoke. "How 'bout this. When we're done eating our weight in pizza, I'll drive us to each other houses to get what we all need and then we can stop at the store, get ice cream, and crash at Rachel's?"

I smiled. "Works for me."

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The truck turned into my neighborhood, the lights on the sides of the streets illuminating the inside of it. "You have five minutes before we leave." Andrea said, half teasing half-serious, as we got closer to my street.

"Got it." I replied while unbuckling my seat belt as we turned onto my street, lights immediately flashing in our eyes. "What's that?" I asked, sitting up on my knees to peer around the back of Andrea's seat.

"I-I don't know. It looks like police cars or something." Andrea said, slowing the truck slightly as we approached the flashing lights.

"There's a fire truck too." Nick added when we came to an almost complete stop.

People were crowded in the streets, most of them holding onto their kids, clad in pajamas and robes. Some had their hand on their mouths, some were just staring, others examined through their windows. I couldn't even see my house over the fire-trucks, police cars, ambulances and people.

"I guess old man Robinson finally hit the hay." Nick teased as Andrea tried to work her way through the crowd as respectfully as possible.

As we got closer, Rachel gasped. "I see smoke! I don't think it's old man-"

I couldn't hear the rest of what she had to say as my house finally came into view. Flames were engulfing it; some firefighters were spraying it with water as others ran in groups inside of it. I yanked open the truck door, it still in motion, and jumped out. The only thing I was looking at was the stretcher being loaded into the ambulance, a small white figure on top of it.

Vaguely I could hear people shouting my name in the background as I sprinted towards my house, my hands shaking at my sides. I shoved people aside without caring who they were, I yelled at people to move as I weaved my way through the crowds, and yet I didn't care.

I stopped at the stretcher only for a moment, my hand touching it softly before I brought my attention back on the house. The only thing I could see was my once beautiful brick house engulfed in flames and the firefighters trying to put it out. Not the body bag on the stretcher that was most likely someone in my family, not the crowds around me or my friends shouting my name, the house was what caught the most of my attention. It was the place I had grown up in, the place I was nearly born in, most likely conceived in it. I remembered all the events that happen in that house and now it was barely anything more but a burnt shack.

"Yes sir. Male. 48 inches. 9 years. Roughly 80 lbs." Someone said and my body went cold. Tommy. "Second floor. Over." They added, almost as an afterthought.

Before I could think about the consequences or how this could potentially kill me, I ran to the house, past the yelling firefighters and bystanders trying to put out the fire. As I was about to get to the front door I felt strong arms wrap around my middle, bringing me down to the grass only feet away from where I was trying to go.

I squirmed. "Get off me!" I shouted kicking my feet and flaying my arms around in a futile attempt to get away from the person. "Tommy! You have to get Tommy! I have to get Tommy!" I yelled moving even more despite my tired body's protests. I didn't care, though. My little brother was still in that house and there was no way in hell I was losing him.

"Shh. Calm down, miss. You're fine. We're doing all we can to put the fire out, I need you to calm down, though." The person, clearly male, said into my ear, still trying to hold me still, something he was doing surprisingly well. This made me thrash even harder.

He didn't get it.

"I don't give a damn about me. My little brother's in there and you've got to let me get him!" I nearly growled at him, my limbs starting to weaken from the constant movements.

As I was about to give the man a sturdy kick in the groin, a burst of flames went through the house. Windows that hadn't broken yet went to shambles, the roof collapsed onto the second floor, causing the walls to fold into themselves.

"No!" I shouted, a new burst of energy running through me as I saw my house go to shambles, my innocent little brother somewhere within them.

The man began to move me further away from the house, as another one came up beside us to yank the shoes off my feet. I hadn't noticed the tops of them catch aflame. The two of them managed to get my body away from the house and closer to the paramedics.

It didn't stop my fighting though. I continued to thrash and kick and scream for them to let me go, but they wouldn't. There were more of them and they were much stronger than I was. I had to keep fighting though. I had to try to save my brother, even if my house had already collapsed. He couldn't be dead yet. He was a fighter; surely he was still alive, right? I had to believe that the answer was yes when it clearly couldn't be. I couldn't give up hope.

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**No one reviewed for the new chapter, which kind of bummed me out, if I'm completely honest with you. I'd really like to hear what you guys have to say; what you liked, what you didn't, what you think will happen, what you want to happen, where you think the title came from, anything you want to ask or say about the story feel free too. Reviews are like an authors tip, they make us smile and want to keep working. **

**Well, thanks to all the people who read the last chapter, even if you didn't like it. Thanks to my lovely beta Sarah from the sarahandkate account. Go check out her stuff, because they're all amazing.**

**I'll try to update soon, I promise. If absolutely no one reviews again for this chapter...I'm not saying I'm threatening you to review or anything because I'm not...I'm just saying that I'll probably start considering keeping this to myself and not posting. If no one is reading, why post, you know?**

**Hope you have a very happy New Years! Does anybody have any new yeas resolutions?**

**With love,**

**Breeze**


	3. White Fuzz Ball

**A/N:: I'm so so sorry about the long wait. Really I am. I don't even have a goo excuse, but I promise you I will try to get them out sooner. I have the next few chapters planned out, so the wait really shouldn't be that long. Thank you for all the reviews, I didn't have time to respond to all of them, but I promise to do more this time. :] Enjoy. **

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**Chapter O3: White Fuzz Ball  
BPOV **

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Even though my eyes were physically focused on the walls around me, all I could see was my house, surrounded by flames and smoke, caving in. I tried not to imagine how Tommy must have felt, trapped underneath the wood and bricks, burning to death while I sat back watching. The one time so far I actually put any thought into it, I ended up vomiting all over one of the nurses.

It wasn't fair that I got to be here, alive and well (for the most part), while everyone else in my family had to die. I know I didn't ask for it or have any contribution to the house fire, but there was still that pound of guilt crushing my stomach. I should've been able to do _something._In the very least, I should've at been there with them.

I took a deep breath, closing my eyes softly. I didn't want to cry right now. I didn't want to deal with it yet. To distract myself, I tried to pick up the conversation going on only feet away from me.

"Parents?" Someone asked from across the small room.

A throat was cleared.

"Killed in the fire, shortly before the building collapsed" The person responded softly, not softly enough though. I could still make out every word of their conversation and right now, I didn't want to listen to the same story repeated again. What I wanted to do was shove a cotton ball in each ear and go to sleep until the end of next year.

Preferably to be in _my_ bed at _my_ house with my parents and Tommy in a room on each side of mine.

That was no longer appeared to be an option.

Instead, I was stuck sitting on a hard hospital mattress only covered in flimsy sheets. Apparently, during the fire, the tops of my feet had been burnt along with the lower part of my right leg and ankle. I couldn't feel any pain yet, and the doctor was telling anyone who asked that the burns were mainly second degree with an only few places of first degree scattered about.

The person's breath _whooshed_ as he emptied his lungs. "That's a shame. They were such sweet people, too. I'd be interested to see how this whole thing started; fires are pretty rare here with all the rain."

The other person 'mmm'ed in agreement, I could hear the movement of the windbreaker as he moved his head, most likely nodding. After a moment's pause, a loud quick beep sounded throughout the room. "I need a nurse in room 209 to re-dress the burns for the patient."

"I'll send someone." A female's voice crackled through what I could only assume to be a handset or intercom system of some sort.

"Well, I have to get back to the station to interview neighbors who might have seen how it started last night, but I'll be back later tonight to check up on everything…and the girl."

"It was nice talking to you Chief Catanzaro." The person, who I now believed to be the doctor, said, patting Chief Catanzaro on the shoulder.

Chief nodded before ducking out of the room. Doc turned to look at me, his clipboard against his chest, and a soft smile on his lips. "Now, let's see your injuries before the nurse comes in to wrap them all up again."

I didn't respond, but instead watched as he carefully made his way over to the bed. He set the clipboard in its holder at the end of the bed before peeling the sheets out from under the mattress. Doc looked up at me as he reached for the gauze.

"This may hurt a little, and I apologize in advance, but you need to tell me if the pain gets too unbearable." He warned, his fingers frozen over the metal clasp holding the gauze closed.

I nodded, unable to fully comprehend or care about what he was saying.

Doc flashed me another small calming smile before turning his head back to my foot, his blonde hair creating a barrier in front of his face. Through his tresses, I could barely see what he was doing, but I could make out him unwrapping the gauze and placing it beside my feet on the bed.

I clenched my eyes shut as he gently poked and prodded the different burns on my lower half. Some hurt more than others did, but at this moment, everything he was doing was hurting more emotionally than physically.

With each touch, I could see a flame that had caused it, another brick falling to the ground as my house collapsed, another spray of water trying to put it out, another siren blaring in the background, another _'Shh, it'll be okay'_, and I wanted nothing more than for it all to disappear.

"Are you okay?" Doc asked, stopping his inspection to look at me. I opened one eye and nodded. "Positive?" he added. I nodded again. He patted a spot on my leg that wasn't burnt and stood as the nurse made her way into the room, pushing a small car in front of her. I closed my eyelid and turned my head to the side, not wanting to watch any longer.

"Wrap her lower leg and ankles securely, but give her feet a little breathing room, they could use the air. Burn Cream, a little antibiotic ointment, and give her some pain meds. I don't think she needs a sedative; her heart rate is already calming down. Perform all traditional burn protocol as well." Doc ordered the middle-aged women gently. "Make sure someone remembers to bring her lunch, I haven't seen any food brought in here yet." He added.

Doc and the nurse conversed for a few minutes longer, but I didn't bother listening in, I could already see sleep coming closer. I welcomed it. My mouth opened to let out one last yawn before it relaxed and allowing my mind to fall into a much-needed slumber.

---

I was woken up by voices outside of my room. I stirred quietly in my bed, before gently pushing myself up into a sitting position, careful as not to move my legs. Their voices were loud enough so that I could catch everything that was being said, but not too loud as too disturb other people.

"What's going to happen to her when we release her tomorrow?" the doctor asked. "She's under the legal age and she has no remaining family members that we know of, you can't just let her go on the streets."

"Miss Swan will be put into the state's foster care system until her eighteenth birthday." Chief Catanzaro stated. "She might have to stay here as a patient or at the station until the paperwork can be filed and we can run a full background check to make sure no living relatives are willing to take her in. Could be a few weeks, maybe even months. We're all crossing our fingers that we can get everything done within a few days, but our sources are slightly limited." He added.

"The hospital won't allow it. We're already pushing it by saying she must be admitted for her burns, the administrator ordered that she has to be gone by noon tomorrow." Doc said remorsefully.

I looked down at the blanket and spotted a small white fuzz ball. I looked around the room, wondering where this supposedly sterile dark blue blanket could have picked up a white fuzz ball. Everything in the room was either navy blue or a slightly lighter blue; nothing purely white was in sight, not even a cream. I, not wanting to risk contracting some foreign disease from the not-so-sterile sterile blanket, gently pushed it down to the bottom of the bed leaving only a thin sheet to cover me.

Catanzaro sighed. "I really didn't want this, but I guess she'll just have to stay in one of the backrooms at the station. " He paused. "Not the most comfortable place to sleep at, but at least she'll be in good hands."

Doc didn't respond and Catanzaro didn't push him to. I took this time to look towards the entryway where they were standing. They were both staring directly at me like I was an exhibit. Under their penetrating gazes, I began to feel sorry for every fish out there that was constantly being looked at and examined through the glass of their tanks. Even if they only felt half as uncomfortable as I did, I would still feel sorry for them.

Doc ran his pale hand through his hair, messing it up even more than it was already. "Esme just finished off the guest bedroom she was working on, and I'm sure between Alice and Rosalie we could find something for her to wear."

Catanzaro looked over at Doc, for some reason shock was painted onto his face. I didn't know what they were talking about, so instead of watching them watch me, I turned over onto my side, wincing slightly when my wrapped feet collided with one another.

"What are you saying Carlisle?" Huh, so Doc had a name.

Doc, or Carlisle as he was formally called, sighed. "The girl can stay with us. I'm sure Esme and the kids would love to have her for a while, I don't exactly have her pegged for the trouble type."

"That's…that's just wonderful!" Catanzaro exclaimed. "I can bring over a release form tomorrow morning. That is, of course, if you're sure." He paused to let out a deep breath. "You see, she's been through a lot and…well, no one's sure exactly how she'll react once it all sets in. I'm sure you already know all that, being a doctor and all, just needed to make sure that was out in the open."

He was right; more so than I'd like to admit to myself. The events of last night hadn't fully set in yet. Yes, I knew exactly what had happened, it was still etched into my mind as clear as night and day, but I hadn't really thought much about it, about everything that happened and how it would be in a few weeks. To be honest though, I didn't want to. I didn't want to walk down that road. I was still waiting for myself to wake up and it all be a dream, thinking about it and hard or longer than I already had would shatter any hope I had.

Doc spoke softly. "I think I can handle her for a few weeks."

Catanzaro returned the smile and looked down at his feet before turning his attention back to Doc. "I'm sure you can. Now, if you excuse me, I have a release form to find. Good luck with the kid."

As the Chief left the doorway and started down the hall, I flopped back down onto the hospital bed, no longer wanting to be awake. I closed my eyes as tight as they would go, forced my body to relax and prayed for the darkness to take over, within minutes I was flying high in the land of sleep.

---

The sedatives Doc had injected into me this time did a wonderful job at keeping the nightmares at bay. Not once during the night did I wake up screaming or panting for air as I had expected to. So far, I had not had any full blown nightmares about the fire, which was odd, to me at least.

Even before the accident, I was easily scared and had a vivid imagination -two things that did not mix well with any human being that enjoys sleeping peacefully. More than once my mother had rushed into my room wrapped in a robe only to see me sitting up in my bed with a mixture of sweat and tears flowing down my face.

Thinking about her brought up a new pain that was just starting to develop.

I had gone to summer camps with Andrea and Nick when I was younger, so a few days without my parents wasn't anything I couldn't handle. Now though, I wanted nothing more than for my mom to wrap her warm fragile arms around me while my dad rubbed small circles on the back of my hand.

I wanted them to say how much they loved me and kiss me on the cheek.

I wanted my mom to drop the medication I was given for the burns into my hands while my dad handed me a cup of water.

I wanted Tommy to run into my room yelling at me for eating the last strawberry pop tart.

I wanted everything I could never have anymore.

The black Mercedes that Doc had driven to work in bounced slightly as it went over the speed bump at the hospital's entrance, throwing my mind back into reality. I turned my head away from the window to look around the car.

From where I was sitting, behind Doc's seat, I could see Mrs. Doc and Doc holding hands on top of the armrest, Mrs. Doc glowing and smiling as much as a toddler in a candy store with Andrew Jackson held tightly in their small hands.

Apparently, Mrs. Doc had made a hobby of fostering children on top of raising three of her own. She couldn't wait the extra hour for her husband to arrive with the latest charity case and had insisted on coming into work with him…just to meet me.

I had tried to be all smiles and giggles when she walked into my hospital room to find me reading some book Andrea had brought to me in her one and only visit, and surprisingly enough, I think I was. She didn't frown at me or tell Doc he couldn't bring me home, instead she simply patted my hand, kissed my forehead and helped me pack up the few things my friends had brought me in their visit.

I already missed them too.

Andrea, Nick, and Rachel had pranced into my room holding a ridiculously big teddy-bear, a basket with candy and books, and my backpack I had left behind in the truck. They were acting all cheerful and happy when even a little kid could tell they were the worst actors possibly on the planet Earth. They loved my parents too, and don't even get me started on little Tommy. He was their prankster idol. They missed them just as much as I did, and yet they still smiled and cracked lame jokes trying to get me to join them.

In my defense, I tried to. I tried to get into what they were saying, laugh, and add my own thoughts, but seeing them was harder than I had thought it would be. I wasn't naïve. I knew my life had shattered to pieces in mere hours. I knew things wouldn't… _couldn't_go back to the way they were, and I knew there was a chance that I would be stuck in an orphanage in Seattle for the next year. Most of all, I was jealous more so than I had ever been of anyone, ever.

They had their parents; they had their houses, their things, their lives. They had everything and here I was with barbequed feet and nothing at all throwing myself a little pity party.

"Isabella?" Mrs. Doc's soft voice rang through my ears. I looked up from my chewed fingernails.

"Bella." I mumbled automatically. "Just Bella."

She gave me a small smile. "Bella, then. Would you like to stop on the way for lunch?" There was something about her voice that was soothing. It had a maternal ring to it that somehow managed to warm my slowly darkening insides.

I shook my head just as my stomach decided to growl. A dark red blush warmed my face as my lie was exposed.

Doc and Mrs. Doc laughed causing me to blush even more. I quickly looked back down at my fingernails. I didn't want to live with a strange happy laughing couple.

My crazy annoying psychotic parents would do just fine, thank you very much.

Their laughing ceased when they noticed my silence. From the corner of my eye I didn't miss the look they shared.

"How about we wait 'till we get closer to Forks and then we can meet the kids somewhere for lunch?" Esme asked.

I nodded my head slowly. I hadn't eaten since dinner the night before, and I was starting to feel the ache in my stomach. Had I not always been a food-a-holic I would've welcomed it.

"I have some snacks up here to hold you over, if you want." She said enthusiastically, her smile lightening up her face as she dropped Doc's hand and bent over in her seat to get something off the floor. After a few seconds of her looking around by her feet, she reemerged, hands stuffed with food.

My eyes widened. Never in my life had I seen someone pack so much food for a one hour drive. Never.

She had four different types of crackers, an array of granola bars, cereal bars, chips, and fruit; everything a person could imagine she had displayed in her small hands.

"I have drinks if you need one. Now, which one would you like?" she started to rattle off the names of each snack, pointing out which one it was and adding in how much she liked it compared to the other ones.

I listened to her, my eyes still wide as I tried to keep up with her. I gave up after the third flavour of granola bars and just reached out to grab a pack of crackers.

"Thanks." I said softly, offering a small smile.

"You're welcome, dear." Esme said, almost as softly as I did. She bent over to put her snacks back into the bag in front of her, not bothering to ask about a drink.

I opened the pack and began to nibble absentmindedly on a cracker, watching the weather change from sunny to raining within thirty minutes. Sometime during the drive, I must have fallen asleep because what seemed like seconds later I was being tapped awake by a cold hand.

"Bella, we're at the restaurant. Everyone's already inside." Doc said softly, extending his hand out to me as I used one arm to raise myself off the seat. I took it and pushed myself out of the car, straightening out my clothes as we made our way to the front doors.

"I'm sure they'll love you." He added, pulling the glass door open for me.

I nodded not convinced in the slightest.

He chuckled, seeing right through my act.

Doc didn't say anything else as he led me to the table of a small homey restaurant. I felt extremely out of place though. As much as I liked Doc and Mrs. Doc, I didn't want to be here and meet their kids.

Sure, odds are some of them had been charity cases once too, but that was when they were little. No one makes fun of a little kid without a home, it's sick. A nearly legal teenager on the other hand…that's a completely different story.

I gulped when Doc stopped, causing me to stumble into his back. "Sorry," I mumbled, looking down at my wet dirt covered Chucks, ignoring the throbbing pain in my feet and ankles as it rubbed my blistering toes.

Doc chuckled, stepping to the side causing me to be in full view. I didn't look up.

"Everyone, this is Bella. She's going to be staying with us for a few days." Doc stated even though I was pretty sure his children were already aware of everything he had just said.

I continued my inspection of the floor. I was actually surprised it passed inspection with the amount of dirt stains it had. I rubbed my foot over a dark black blob hoping to help the person who owned the joint keep his floors clean. I grimaced slightly as the burns rubbed against the sides of the shoe.

Nobody spoke. Not Doc. Not Mrs. Doc. Not even one of the kids, even though the table was rattling slightly from the bouncing of one of them.

I certainly wasn't going to be the one to break the pattern.

Finally, someone cleared their throat after muttering something I couldn't quite understand.

"I'm Alice!" Alice all but shouted, sticking her hand out to me. I eyed the perfectly manicured fingers, the gold charm bracelet I had no doubt was real, and her flawless pale skin before gaining the courage to raise my head slightly.

She was the bouncer. Her body was still vibrating up and down and her black pixie-like hair was flopping up and down with it. I couldn't help but crack a small smile at her. She had to be about my age, and yet she was still as excited as she would've been if she had been five.

I reached my arm out slowly, only meeting her blue eyes once as we shook hands. "Bella" I said softly, trying my best to be polite.

"I know." She grinned, pulling my arm closer to her, forcing me to plop into the empty chair beside her. She dropped my hand once I was seated.

"I'm so excited to finally meet you!" Alice exclaimed, turning her small body to face me completely.

I rolled my lips in over my teeth and nodded my head as if I fully understood what she meant.

"I mean, Carlisle has told me so much about you, but to finally meet you in the flesh is just…amazing." She said quicker than I thought was humanly possible.

I crinkled my eyebrows in confusion. "Huh?" I said oh so gracefully.

So much for first impressions.

Her smile didn't fade at all when she ignored my comment and started to introduce everyone at the table.

"This is Jasper." She said, placing a thin hand on the shoulder of the blonde man besides her. "He's going to be a junior at Washington U." Just from her voice I could tell there was something more than brother-sisterly love going on between the two. Jasper, smiled softly, with a little nod of his head that I had seen Nick do before.

Alice pointed to a gorgeous model-like blonde sitting on the other side of Jasper. "And this is my bestie Rosalie, she's Jasper's twin. Junior at Washington U too." Rosalie didn't smile, but she didn't look angered or disgusted either. She eyed me with a peculiar look on her face, her head tilted ever so slightly to the side.

"Sitting beside her is-" Before Alice could finish introducing the giant curly haired man, someone came up beside me and a wonderful smell drifted into my nostrils.

"Sorry I'm late. Traffic." The person, obviously male, stated pulling out the empty seat between Doc and myself before turning his head to look at me.

"I'm Edward." He added, flashing a grin so heavenly it caused my head to begin to ache. "-and you are?" he asked slowly.

I couldn't answer.

Instead, like the graceful Swan I was, I sat there, mouth wide open gaping at the man besides me.

* * *

**A/N:: Well, that's that. We saw a little Edward in there. Oh! Please remember, that I've never had experience with this type of tramatic experience, so I'm going on instinct with Bella's personality. She's also a confused sixteen year old who just lost her whole family, but the shock really hasn't set in. She misses them, but the whole event hasn't hit her yet, you know? I'll try to be more realistic with it and all...but for now this is all I know how to do. :] **

**Don't forget to review because we all know they make every persons day and they really do act as inspiration, I promise you they do. I'll try and get to everyones questions, comments, and suggestions you leave. Hopefully the chapter will be up within a week or less.**

**Anyone watching the Grammys? Oh! I almost forgot. I've seen a couple of other authors do a recommendation section at the end of each chapter, and I thought it was really kind of cool. So if you have any recs for me and the rest of fanfiction, send'em on!**

**Lots of love, **

**Breeze**


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